Naruto: A Deceptively Clever Ninja
by RenegadeSon
Summary: Sometimes all it takes is one conversation to spark a flame in someone's motivation to change. Follow Naruto as he uses his natural cleverness to become a ninja that is truly unpredictable.
1. Chapter 1

The leaves are rustling in the wind while the sun is gradually rising in the sky on this early Summer morning. People are slowly exiting their doors and walking down the road. Some speak to one another as they shuffle past each other. In the midst of their groggy start to the morning a shout of pain? Anguish? Confusion? No it is clearly anger. The outcry begins. First it was the clothing merchant Diasuke Yuni, then the fruits and vegetables shop owner Kakuno Iida, and before you know it a fourth of the shopping district joined in.

"Hey! Hey! Diasuke-san! What happened?, said a man running to all the commotion. Diasuke stopped to stare at the man who seemed to have a genuinely curious expression on his he pointed at his shop's sign. Along with the cleverly composed store title (Fit for You) was a big colorful promotional poster that read: Special one day 50% OFF SALE. The man raised one eyebrow and asked, "What's so wrong about that besides the fact that you could potentially lose a lot of money for making a sale like that?" Diasuke simply pointed at the door to his shop. Despite the fact that just a couple of minutes earlier people were groggily starting their day, people were now pushing, shoving, and rushing through the door of Diasuke's shop. The cashiers' heads were spinning at the constant sells of the very expensive clothing that was being bought at half price off. The store was nearly half empty. Diasuke then took this opportunity to point toward Kakuno-san's shop and the entire store was bare already due to a similar sale.

"You should be happy now that you are selling out", said the man who now was sporting a smile.

At that moment it seemed as if Diasuke would burst from anger because he begin to turn red and sweat profusely. "ARE YOU SERIOUS? MOST OF THOSE CLOTHING MATERIALS SOLD HERE WERE TOO VALUABLE TO SELL AT FIFTY PERCENT! I HAVE NOW MADE LITTLE TO NO MONEY OR MORE LIKELY LOST MONEY! THERE IS NO PROFIT!" The man listening could swear that he saw the tiniest inkling of a tear welling up in Diasuke's eyes. This thought made him burst into laughter. He laughed so much in fact that he fell to his knees and begin to pound the ground. While in this fit of laughter he did not notice that everything around him went quiet. As a matter of fact, everyone was looking at him now. He was shaken out of his fit of laughter by hearing Diasuke shout "NARUTO"!

The man who was now a boy wearing an orange jumpsuit immediately began to run down the road. This boy, identified as Naruto he people chasing him, continued to laugh despite the mob of merchants chasing him down the road. After escaping to his home he burst into another fit of laughter that was interrupted by a voice. Wait, a voice? There is no one here with me.

Naruto opened his eyes to see a pink haired girl and a raven haired boy staring at him.

The pink haired girl whom Naruto's mind now registered as Sakura asked him, "What were you laughing at?" "I just had the greatest dream about pranking ever", said the blonde, orange jumpsuit wearing ninja. At this response the raven haired boy whom Naruto's mind identifies as Sasuke remarked, "Idiot". "No one asked you stupid jerk!" "Don't call Sasuke-kun a jerk idiot!" At this Naruto pouted and asked, "Why do you have to defend Sasuke?" At this moment the classroom door opened. A spiky mess, yet vertical, shock of white hair entered the threshold of the door. Before this person could step any further into the room, a dry eraser full of chalk residue fell onto the white hair. As the white hair lifted, a face covered by a mask with a leaf hitaeite over the left eye stared at the trio of genin in the room. A male's voice emanated from this figure with these words: "First impression: I hate you." One thought crossed Naruto's mind: 'It was worth it'.

After regrouping on top of the building the man with the white hair told the three young genin that he is Kakashi Hatake, their jounin sensei. He then started an exercise that was intended to help them learn more about one another by stating their likes, dislikes, and dreams. Sakura asked Kakashi to give an example. This proved to be unfruitful as his answers were very cryptic and revealed nothing about himself. Then it was Sakura's turn. Her response was oddly enough similar to Kakashi's because she never revealed the answer to her statements. It was rather obvious that the reason was her infatuation with Sasuke. Well, she did reveal one dislike.

To the dismay of the young orange jumpsuit wearing ninja, he was the dislike.

"Alright me next. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen and Sakura-chan. I dislike the 30 seconds it takes to make ramen. My dream is to become Hokage so that everyone will give me respect and acknowledge me." 'Very interesting', thought Kakashi, 'but not surprising.' "You next Sasuke".

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I like very few things. I have a few dislikes. And my dream is more of an ambition. It is to kill a certain man." 'You do not need three guesses to figure out who that is', thought Kakashi. "Ok, great. Now that we have learned a bit about one another we can begin training. Meet me at training ground 7 at seven in the morning. By the way, do not eat breakfast. You just might throw it up", said Kakashi in a very grave voice, effectively giving the three young genin a sense of dread.

That night Naruto lay awake in his bed thinking over the past week. He recalled failing the graduation exam, learning the Shadow Clone jutsu, and saving Iruka-sensei. Naruto was truly grateful for being given the opportunity to be a ninja because it allows him to take one more step closer to accomplishing his dream of being Hokage. 'I really have to work hard in order to accomplish my dream. I will not allow anything to prevent me from being acknowledged and gaining the respect of all.' As he finished saying that he thought to himself, 'I guess being a ninja means that I have to become more mature and stop doing things like the prank I played on Kakashi-sensei. With that thought he began to drift asleep. 'Do I want to do that though?...'

At ten this morning Kakashi strolled into the clearing of Training Ground 7 immediately igniting the ire of Naruto and Sakura for being 3 hours late. After the usual excuse, Kakashi explained to his genin that their real exam begins now. Thus the bell test, which is by far the hardest thing they have ever done, commenced.

'Obviously we were not prepared for this', thought Naruto as he found himself strapped to a log in the middle of the training field while Sasuke and Sakura were beginning to eat their food. 'My stomach wasn't either'. A loud gurgle emanated from Naruto's stomach at that very moment. His teammates were given instructions to not help Naruto or they would fail. After the lunch break they would be given another chance to complete the test together. 'Wait a minute' thought Sasuke as he heard Naruto's stomach grumble. 'If only two of us can pass, then what is the purpose of having all three of us do it together. Either way, we can not get those bells alone so we are forced to rely on each other. It's like he expects us to work together to get those bells. And if that is the case, Naruto would not be useful to us if he is hungry. He must eat.'

At that moment Kakashi saw something that he never expected to see from this team: Sasuke offered Naruto some of his food. He was surprised once more a few seconds later after seeing Sasuke speak that Sakura offered some of her food to Naruto as well. 'Are they the ones that finally get it? 'The true meaning of this test?' "I don't believe it", an incredulous Kakashi said as he shushined to their location. "WHY DID YOU DISOBEY THE RULES?", shouted Kakashi with a weird ominous genjutsu. After an impassioned defense of their actions by Sakura, Kakashi suspensefully told them that they passed. "The true meaning of this test is working together as a team. Although the rules are important, your team is essential. There is a saying that those who disobey the rules are trash. Well I would take it a bit further and say that those who disobey the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum." Naruto with a jubilant expression on his face said, "Does this mean we are an official team now Kakashi-sensei?" "Yes it does Naruto", replied an amused Kakashi, "Now your ninja careers begin."

Ten minutes of celebration later, the genin prepared to leave the training ground. "Hold on guys, I have a couple of things to say. First, meet me at the Hokage tower tomorrow for your first mission.

Second, I have something to speak with Naruto about so go on home Sakura and Sasuke." After his teammates left, Naruto turned to Kakashi with a confused look. "What do you want sensei?"

Kakashi stared at Naruto for a moment before stating, "Your pranks are annoying", at this Naruto made a face, "but I must admire the intelligence in them. I think that if you applied the same amount of effort to your ninja tactics, you would become quite the formidable ninja." "Sensei I am sure that is cool and all but what does "tactics" and "formidable" mean? At this question, Kakashi paused for a couple of minutes hoping that Naruto was not serious, but much to his dismay the inquisitive stare Naruto was giving him proved to him otherwise. With a sigh, Kakashi began to explain what tactics were and what the word formidable meant.

As Naruto was leaping through the trees on his way to Ichiraku's Ramen, one could not help but notice the big smile on his face. Not only is he progressing toward his dream, but he is also gaining new friends as well. 'This is going to be great! Especially now that Kakashi-sensei is teaching me to use tactics...wait, what does that mean again?...Oh yea I got it!..I think.'


	2. Chapter 2

When Kakashi's genin heard him say that they were going to get a mission today, they did not expect this. Needless to say that in the mind of three pre-teens, the ninja lifestyle was sensationalized. This was especially true to for the hyperactive member of the team who thought of jumping through trees slinging kunai and shuriken at all the enemies without getting injured at all. So when they found themselves gathering wood from the Great Konoha Oaks for one of the village's craftsmen they were not satisfied with their work. Not satisfied but definitely tired.

After chopping up the last oak, an exasperated Sakura called out, "Sensei, we have finished! Can we go back now?" "Sure", replied Kakashi, "as soon as we load them up in the cart." With his characteristic eye smile, he took a seat. By "we" he meant "you". Three collective groans...well two groans and silence..followed Kakashi's words.

As they were leaving the Hokage's office Naruto stopped in front of Kakashi and turned to face him. After an awkward silence of about 15 seconds he asked, "What's the big deal sensei?"

Kakashi with a confused look on his face responded, "What are you talking about Naruto?" "You know what we are talking about sensei", replied Sakura. An affirmative "Hn" came from the direction of Sasuke. "Ok ok I get it. It's about the missions right?" "Exactly! When you said mission I thought we were going to do something exciting", said the energetic blond. "What were three fresh genin expecting from their first mission? Did you think that you would be given an infiltration or assassination mission as a rookie? You have to work on the efficiency of your teamwork and execution. How do you expect to do that without practice? Besides, its not like chunin and jounin will do these missions." Once again two groans and silence followed his words.

"Well, even though we are not doing any exciting missions right now, that leaves us time to do other things right?", mused Naruto after Kakashi had left. "Let's go on a date Sakura-chan!" "Why would I go on date with you idiot?", shouted Sakura but in the same instant turned to ask Sasuke, "would you like to go get something to eat since we have the rest of the day free?" Sasuke had a far away look in his eyes while his two teammates were talking. Unbeknownst to them he was thinking of the man who killed his clan. Specifically he was thinking of the difference in power between himself and that man. That is why he did not realize how out of place his casual response of "later" as a goodbye was when he turned to leave. Naruto continued to sulk about Sakura's favoritism of Sasuke while Sakura stood there confused.

On his way home Naruto remembered the talk he had with Kakashi after their first day. Although he appreciated the advice Kakashi gave him, Naruto realized that he did not have much direction to go on. Just then Naruto happened to be passing by the favorite cloud watching spot of the laziest out of the rookie 9 when he spotted hair that was tied in the way that he has only seen from Shikamaru. "HEY! SHIKAMARU, is that you up there?", shouted Naruto. Within 5 seconds Shikamaru quickly decided that responding to Naruto would be more troublesome than he would like to so he decided to ignore him by pretending to be asleep. It would have worked on anyone else but unfortunately for Shikamaru this was Naruto, who proceeded to jump up to his location and prod him. To be fair Shikamaru deserved a lot of credit for his perseverance on account of the fact that he withstood prodding for about five minutes before he decided that being prodded was more troublesome than responding to Naruto. He decided to 'wake up' at that moment and said "Hey Naruto." Naruto with an annoyed look on his face shouted, "Finally! You sure are a heavy sleeper Shikamaru." 'I was trying to ignore you idiot', thought Shikamaru, nevertheless he responded, "Sure you can say that, what do you want Naruto?" "Well I was thinking of something Kakashi-sensei told me the other day and I was looking for help. Sensei told me that if I put the same effort into using tactics that I do with my pranks then I would become a much more formidable ninja." "So you want me to help you create tactics right?" "Exactly!", shouted Naruto in response. "Troublesome."

It was not everyday that Shikamaru would stick out in public and be noticed by everyone on the road. To be honest he considered it troublesome to be noticed at all by people. He figured that if people did notice that he was there then it would be much more probable that they would bother him. Ironically his clan's Kage based jutsu was a perfect representation of the type of obscurity that he would like to live in. Unfortunately for him at the moment there was something...rather someone who was impeding that from happening at the moment. For the past five minutes Naruto had been following him around Konoha begging him to help with tactics. "Please Shikamaru?", pleaded Naruto. Shikamaru contemplated what would be more troublesome, helping Naruto or allowing Naruto to destroy his lifestyle of obscurity and laziness. In the end it was an easy choice. Not to mention that he has already thought of a way to help Naruto without having to do much of anything. "Ok Naruto I will help you." "Really! That's awesome Shikamaru. So when do we begin?" "Right now. The first step is easy: reading", said Shikamaru with a knowing smile. "Reading?", questioned Naruto with an exasperated face. "Yes, the best place for you to start is the Konohagakure library. You need to gain as much information as possible before you start creating plans", stated Shikamaru sagely. "I guess so", said Naruto with a questioning look on his face, "thanks Shikamaru, I will let you know how it goes." 'Great, that should buy me some time.'

Although Naruto was a bit skeptical and disappointed about Shikamaru's advice, he took it to heart. After spending a couple of hours in the Konohagakure public library, the first hour or so being lost due to the classification system, Naruto found a couple of books on the theory of tactics and basic strategies. He was so excited that he only ate a couple bowls of Miso Pork Ramen before going home to read. He cleared the first chapter of both books before realizing that he was hungry. After searching the kitchen Naruto paused for a moment and for the next thirty seconds everyone in a 2 mile radius heard a frightening shout. It was safe to assume that Naruto was out of food again...well out of cup ramen at least. There was still the chicken, vegetable mix, and rice that Jiji bought for him. 'I guess I will settle for this', thought Naruto, 'The book did say that a great tactician has a sound mind and body and that the mind and body can be impacted by eating habits.' After a meal that was not ramen Naruto started to think. As he stared at his now empty plate while tuning out the miscellaneous sounds that came from various places in the neighborhood, like the sound of old man Watarashi chasing off the stray dogs with his wooden spool or the young woman living downstairs dancing in her apartment, he thought about his new team and the things they had done so far. Thinking of Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, and Sakura-chan made him smile. It took a minute for him to recognize that expression on his face. Naruto rarely genuinely smiled because of happiness. 'It's similar to when I am with Iruka-sensei or Jiji', thought Naruto. Thinking about his team made him remember their last interaction. 'Aw man, Sakura-chan still follows Sasuke around. What's so great about him anyway? If only I could...be Sasuke...for...a...while', mused Naruto progressively until "Of course-dattebayo, the transformation jutsu!" A mischievous grin appeared on Naruto's face. 'No one ever saw practice as a bad thing right', thought Naruto slickly. Naruto went to bed that night planning tactics "practice".

"Just my luck!", protested Naruto as he fled from the park bench that was currently seating a bewildered Sakura. 'Just as I was about to get that kiss too, dang it!' The plan had went off without a hitch. Naruto ambushed Sasuke by pretending to brashly challenge him to a fight in a secluded hallway. Instead of a straightforward fight Naruto created shadow clones to subdue Sasuke and tie him up. Naruto calculated that Sasuke did not have knowledge that he knew the shadow clone jutsu-a physical clone opposed to the normal academy style. After tieing him up Naruto transformed into Sasuke and exited the building. To the casual observer who saw "Sasuke" emerge from the building, it would seem that Sasuke made quick work of Naruto. This was the thoughts of Ino-Shika-Cho combo who just so happened to be on the rooftop of an adjacent building. "Well of course Sasuke-kun would win", said Ino pridefully as if she were talking about her possessions. "Yea Sasuke was top of the class", said Choji. "It would seem that way huh", inputted Shikamaru. 'I want to know what "Sasuke" has up his sleeve', thought Shikamaru with a knowing smile. Everything had gone fine after meeting up with Sakura and asking to talk up until the moment they were about to kiss. Suddenly a rumble shook Naruto's abdomen and he had to find a restroom, which is where he is currently. He would understand what went wrong when he got home and read the note from Kakashi-sensei attached to his milk.

Meanwhile the real Sasuke had managed to free himself and just so happened to run into Sakura sitting on the park bench. "Sasuke-kun you're back", said Sakura with a smile, 'Now where were we.' Sasuke who had no idea what Sakura was talking about simply asked Sakura where Naruto was. "I don't know where he is Sasuke-kun. Why are you asking about him anyway?" "I ran into him earlier today and I need to talk to him now, but he is missing", responded Sasuke. "That's typical Naruto for you. Always a troublemaker. You know he acts like that because he is an orphan that lives alone and doesn't have any parents to teach him any discipline", said Sakura ignorantly without noticing Sasuke's increasingly angry and irritated expression. "What do you know of being alone and isolated without family Sakura? It is a cold, dark, and lonely place. It's a hard and strenous life to live", said Sasuke darkly and vehemently while walking away. Needless to say Sakura was stunned and took a minute to adjust to what she just heard. It's true that she had not considered how hard that life must have been for Naruto. 'Maybe I can do better by being nicer to Naruto', she thought.

After emptying his bowels for the sixth time that day, Naruto lay on the bed with a bottle of water. He was near dehydrated, somewhat sad, and somehow happy. Bad news was that he failed to kiss Sakura-chan. Good news was that his plan was executed almost flawlessly. He managed to dupe Sasuke with one of the most integral aspects of tactics: making your opponent let their guard down by giving them a reason to underestimate you. Without pre-knowledge of Naruto's shadow clone jutsu, Sasuke was in no way prepared to defend against three real Naruto clones. Then his transformation jutsu was flawless. He perfectly replicated the appearance of Sasuke and somewhat got the personality down as well. Overall the day was a success. "One step closer to being Hokage-dattebayo!"


	3. Chapter 3

To say that Hatake Kakashi was surprised would not be enough. For one thing, he did not expect this mission to be completed so quickly...or efficiently. Nor did he expect Naruto to be mainly responsible for the efficiency and completion of said mission. The one issue with this was that along with the capture of the wild boar and the group of bandits controlling the boar was the capture of Sakura and Sasuke as well. After listening to Naruto recount the implementation of his plan Kakashi was pleased that Naruto seemed to have taken his words into consideration, but it was obvious that they needed to work on the teamwork aspect a bit more. Naruto made a plan by himself, did not tell his teammates (mainly because they did not listen to him when he said that he had a plan), and did not warn them of the trap that he set up. Naruto's plan went something like this: locate the enemy (the bandits and the wild boar), let Sasuke and Sakura distract the enemy while he laid traps all around the field, and then let the enemy walk unknowingly into the traps. It was very simple but quite effective because Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi drove the bandits and boar back to the treeline where all the traps had been lain. Within five minutes all of the bandits had been hanging in trees by their feet (not hard to figure where Naruto got the inspiration for that from) and the boar had fallen into a pit. As mentioned before Sasuke and Sakura were also hanging by their feet with annoyed expressions on their faces staring at Naruto, who had his trademark closed-eyes wide grin on.

'Honestly, he ruined my plan to teach them all a lesson.' Kakashi was going to teach the team a bit about tactics today after he intentionally let them charge the bandits head on. You never know when the enemy could have traps or have a means of escape.

"Hey! Get us down already sensei!", shouted Sakura. "Sorry about that you guys", said Kakashi apologetically as he flung two kunai at the ropes holding their feet. After rendering all of the bandits unconscious, tying them up, and preparing them for travel Kakashi gathered his team together to travel. "Before we go I would like to discuss a few things you guys", began Kakashi. "First off, great job creating that strategy Naruto...but horrible job of incorporating your team into the plan", praised and critiqued Kakashi. "Yea idiot you could have harmed us", scolded Sakura. "Hehe", nervously laughed Naruto, "Sorry about that Sakura-chan." Sasuke said nothing. "Anyway, I wanted to take this opportunity to let you all know the importance of engagement tactics. In other words-", began Kakashi before Naruto interjected, "In other words the method in which you engage your enemies. The timing, the location, and the style of attack." "Correct Naruto. On the account that you expertly demonstrated a very effective engagement tactic, could you explain to your teammates what was ineffective about their strategy", asked Kakashi. At this Sakura's cheeks flushed pink and Sasuke's usual stoic confidence fell a bit. "Well to begin, your engagement tactic was a very straightforward direct attack. You did not consider if the enemy had traps set up or reinforcements nearby. I think you were overconfident about being ninja and assumed that you could easily overpower the bandits", explained Naruto. "Could not have said it better Naruto. Sasuke, Sakura, do you understand?", asked Kakashi. A simple grunt came from Sasuke and Sakura responded with a simple "Yes sensei." "Alright then, let's get out of here", said Kakashi.

The journey back to the village was a bit awkward to say the least. This was mainly due to the fact that Sasuke and Sakura had barely uttered any words since they began traveling. 'How could I let Naruto out-think me in battle', thought Sasuke as he clenched his fists. 'Is this Naruto?', questioned Sakura, 'When did he become so battle savvy?' It was at that moment that Naruto tripped on a tree branch and fell to the ground. "Idiot", said lowly in unison by Sasuke and Sakura. "More like clumsy", retorted Kakashi.

After Naruto's clones dropped off the bandits at the T&I Department, team 7 made their way to the Hokage Tower to debrief the mission. "Well done on completing yet another mission team 7. I trust everything went well", greeted Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Kami no Shinobi. "Yes Hokage-sama. We managed to capture all of the bandits and subdue the beast without any casualties or injuries.", explained Kakashi. "Excellent, now on to your next D-Rank miss-", started Hiruzen before he was interrupted by Naruto's outburst, "Hold on a minute Jiji, we need to move on from D-Rank missions. Ninjas as awesome as I am need to test their skills! Give us a C-Rank."

"Now hold on a minute-", began Kakashi before Sasuke interjected this time, "I agree. We are advanced enough to take on tougher missions than catching cats and rounding up average bandits." "If Sasuke-kun says so then I am in as well", said a less confident Sakura. 'Hopefully Sasuke and Naruto are right', she thought. Iruka, who had been sitting next to the Hokage the whole time, entered the conversation with a retort. "Absolutely not! You guys need to gain much more experience before you begin to think about taking on higher ranked missions."

"Iruka-sensei we have gained plenty of experience already. We need new action", responded Naruto.

"Now now Iruka I think they may have a point", said the Hokage.

"This is ridiculous", responded an incredulous Iruka.

"I never said that it would be a very difficult mission but I believe they can handle a very simple escort mission with relatively little evidence of danger."

"Are you thinking of giving them the escort mission to the waves?"

"Exactly. Send for the client please."

"Yes Hokage-sama."

"Ha! You're the best Jiji! We will not let you down Iruka-sensei", shouted Naruto.

With that Iruka gave the instructions to one of the assistants in the room. Within five minutes, there stood an average height man with the body build of a drinker and the slight odor of one as well. His first words rankled a few feathers with the Genin in team 7: "Are these brats the ninjas that are supposed to escort me? And what's with the shorty?" "Hey, who is he calling short?, Naruto asked. Both Sasuke and Sakura looked slightly down at Naruto and at that moment Naruto realized that he was the shortest member of the team. "Why you little...I'll pulverize you right here", said a restrained Naruto. "Now now", began an amused Kakashi, "You can not kill the client of the mission Naruto. Mission begins at 8:00am tomorrow morning. Pack Well."

On the way home Naruto spotted Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji walking and talking together. "Shikamaru!", shouted Naruto.

'Oh no, that sounds like Naruto. Maybe I can igno...nevermind.' "Oh hey Naruto", replied Shikamaru lazily.

"What does Naruto want?", asked Ino.

"Who knows."

"Hey Ino, Choji." "Hey Naruto", said Choji in between chews. "Thanks for the advice Shikamaru. I already finished a couple of books. It really helped a lot. I want to make it up to you."

"That's not necessary Naruto. I am glad tha-"

"Nonsense Shikamaru. I am treating you to Ichiraku's right now." With that Naruto grabbed Shikamaru and dragged him to Ichiraku's. 'Troublesome blondes.'

After a couple bowls of Miso Pork Ramen for Naruto and Choji, and one bowl for everyone else, Naruto noticed that the afternoon was just setting in. "Where were you guys headed?", he asked.

"We had just finished a mission and were headed home."

"By the way Shikamaru, what did you help Naruto with?", asked Ino.

"Troublesome."

"That does not tell me anything Idiot!"

"Yea Shikamaru, why don't you just tell her that you helped me with tactics."

"Yea right Naruto. As if you could use good tactics." At this Naruto slumped his shoulders and a cloud of depression settled over his head. 'Why does everyone underestimate me?'

"All I did was recommend that he read some books."

"And now you will help me formulate strategies right?", asked Naruto pleadingly with his hands clasped together. Ino saw the look of annoyance on Shikamaru's face and smirked. "Of course he will help you Naruto."

"I did not agr-", began Shikamaru before he was cut off by a quick glare/sinister smile thing from Ino.

"That's great! Thanks Shikamaru."

'Troublesome.'

"You can start today. Alright Choji, let's go home and let Naruto and Shikamaru get to work", said Ino with a smile. 'That'll teach him not to ignore me.'

The sun was shining brightly overhead with some nice big clouds calmly traveling across the vast expanse of the sky above Konohagakure. It would be the perfect day for some cloud watching. It was the perfect day in general. Little children were enjoying it. Dogs were enjoying. Workers were enjoying. Unfortunately for Shikamaru he could not say that he could include himself in that group of people. This would be the ideal day for some cloud watching in his mind, but he was unwillingly preoccupied with helping Naruto create battle tactics. "Hey Shikamaru stop staring into space."

"Huh? Oh sorry about that Naruto", he lazily drawled.

"You really like cloud watching huh? What's so great about it?"

"I don't think you would understand."

"Are you trying to call me dumb?"

"Not quite. I was more so stating that you would not be able to relate to my reasons for enjoying cloud watching."

"Try me."

"Well, clouds have the life I would like to live. They are carefree and do not have much to do besides floating casually in the sky. It is the perfect life. I guess you could say I have cloud envy."

"What's that "engy" thing you were talking about?"

Shikamaru facepalmed. "It is E-N-V-Y, envy. It is a malicious attitude toward someone/thing due to the coveting of something in that person or thing's possession. Basically it is negative feelings toward someone or thing because you want something that they have."

"Oh I get it", said Naruto excitedly. "You envy the clouds because you want to live your life as they do...well if they could live as we do."

"Exactly."

"You were right though."

"About what?"

"When you said I probably would not relate to your reason. I am always seeking to take steps to achieve my goal of being Hokage so I can not be that lax", said Naruto with very strong conviction. The pure emotion behind that statement made Shikamaru's eyes widen a bit. "Well the quicker we finish here, the sooner you will be able to get back to cloud watching."

"Right. Well how about we start with some situational tactics." As Naruto was about to ask what that was Shikamaru stopped him. "I'll explain as we go."

After leaving Shikamaru Naruto decided to stop by the Konohagakure Ninja Hardware and Weaponry store to pick up a few things. As he browsed through the selection he noticed a bunch of small things that could come in handy for the future. He got some of them such as some ninja wire, a Fuma shuriken, smoke bombs, paper bombs, and a few other miscellaneous things. 'Who would have thought all of these little things could do something so cool', squealed Naruto to himself. After this Naruto went home to prepare for his mission the next day. His bag was finished being packed by 8:00pm. Well his tactics theory book did tell him to be prepared well in advance of upcoming battles. 'Now to have a little fun. They will be so surprised.'

The next morning Team 7 minus Naruto was standing next to Tazuna at the main gate. "Where is Naruto? He should know better than to be late for our first big mission", asked Sakura. 'CHA! Definitely since he was the one who badgered Hokage-sama for it in the first place!', roared Inner Sakura. "I am sure he will be here any moment...hopefully", said Kakashi. "That short gaki better be here soon", said Tazuna. What happened next surprised the whole group: Naruto's voice came from the tree standing next to them. "I have been here the whole time", said a tree-bark shaped Naruto that stepped from the tree. "If I had a camera this would be the perfect picture", laughed Naruto as he pulled off his tree camouflage and packed it into his backpack. "You should see your faces. I guess I am still the prank king." One thought ran through the rest of their minds: 'How did we not know he was there?' Kakashi coughed to get everyone's attention. "Alright, thanks for joining us Naruto now let's move out." That was met with the response: "Yes sensei!" With that, they were off.


	4. Chapter 4

**Just a few words here before the next chapter. I am sure that you all have noticed that the story is progressing pretty slowly and sticking pretty close to canon. That is intentional but things are about to shake up a bit and hopefully you will have just as much fun reading this as I am writing. Also do not feel shy about reviewing and letting me know what you think. I would appreciate it.**

 **By the way I realize I have not been giving this disclaimer but I will: I do not own or claim to own any of the Naruto franchise. All rights are reserved to Kishimoto Masashi-san.**

 **Chapter 4**

Since the mission began Naruto was bursting with excitement. The thought of going on their first C-Rank mission sent him over the moon. He was so excited in fact that he missed the fact that their was a puddle in the middle of the road despite that there has not been any rain in the past couple of weeks in the area. Sasuke and Sakura thought nothing special of it and Tazuna was still feeling the effects of his drinking from the night before so he did not notice. Kakashi, on the other hand, being the Jounin that he was noticed it right away and thought that it was extremely suspicious. 'Time for another teaching lesson', he thought. He figured it was a trap so he decided to test his Genin out by pretending to be caught in the trap as well. A few seconds later two weapons with chains wrapped around Kakashi's body at several places. By this time everyone else noticed the situation and turned around with no small amount of shock on their face. "Kakas-", the three Genin managed to yell out before they were interrupted by their sensei's body being ripped to shreds. 'No way, no way, no way, no way...', frantically thought Naruto. He was too freaked out to notice that he had not moved and that Sasuke and Sakura had taken up defense around Tazuna while the now known two attackers had emerged from hiding and were charging at them with the intent to kill. 'Move idiot, MOVE', mentally shouted Sasuke. It was no use though because Naruto was scared stiff of the situation around him. Right as one of the attackers reached him and swiped Kakashi was there to rescue Naruto. In a blink of an eye Kakashi had both attackers defeated and wrapped up in the crook of his elbows. "Sorry about the delay Naruto, I didn't expect you of all people to freeze up like that", said Kakashi apologetically. Naruto stood there with a mix of shame and shock on his face. 'How can I be Hokage if I can't battle?' Sasuke with a much more friendlier than usual smirk on his face looked at Naruto and asked, "What's the matter scaredy cat?" Naruto clenched his fists and gritted his teeth at being taunted by Sasuke. Sakura felt pity for Naruto in that moment. She understood that it was a tough situation. Tazuna stood by curiously eyeing Naruto as if to see what he would do.

"Hey Naruto it seems that one of those weapons nicked your hand and from the looks of it, the blades seemed to have been poisoned", explain Kakashi. "It looks like we might have to go back to the village to get treatment for it. Looks like our mission has slowed down a bit."

'I can't be the weak link in our team', thought Naruto. 'No! I refuse to be weak or scared', thought Naruto with some resolve. That resolve showed on his face as he did something that shocked everyone in the group. In a blink of an eye Naruto whipped out a kunai and stabbed his hand without batting an eyelash. Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna all stare with widened eyes as Naruto spoke these words that they would not forget: "I vow to never be scared and run away again. I promise that with this wound to be the reminder." After recovering from the initial shock Kakashi smiled and then commended Naruto for his resolve. There was one problem though: "That was an impressive display and off but if we do not treat the stab wound on your hand you will bleed out."

After calming Naruto down and bandaging his hand, Kakashi decided it was time to identify the attackers and have a little talk with Tazuna. With a quick look through the trusty bingo book, they were able to easily identify the two attackers as the Chunnin level missing nin Demon Brothers of Kiri. Of course this did not sit well with Kakashi as he realized that he and his team were put in very great danger by their client. Tazuna gulped as Kakashi advanced toward him. "Alright spill it Tazuna. Why are there Chuunin level ninja attacking you?", commanded/asked Kakashi. Tazuna sighed and reluctantly told Team 7 about his predicament and the state of the land of the Waves.

"If what you say is true then the mission is definitely more than a C-Rank. This is an unqualified team for a mission that is easily a B-Rank and possibly an A-Rank. Not to mention that you only paid for a C-Rank", stated Kakashi. Tazuna stared down at the water guiltily before responding, "Yes I deceived you and I am truly sorry but you have to understand the financial situation that we are in right. We have no money and a C-Rank is all that we can afford." The last statement was coupled with a flow of tears that was seemed to fit the dreary state of the fog covered lake that they were crossing at the moment. In the time that Tazuna took to tell his tale, they had made it to the Land of Waves. Kakashi was about to resume his objection to the predicament Tazuna put them in when Naruto decided to enter the conversation: "Sensei we have to help old man Tazuna and his country."

"I understand that you want to help out but-"

"I agree with Naruto", interjected Sasuke.

"I as well", added Sakura.

After seeing the passion and unity displayed by his team during this moment Kakashi agreed to continue the mission even though this goes against protocol. Tazuna inwardly pumped his fist. His guilt trip worked. As the conversation ended they had docked on land. Everyone steeled their nerves and they continued on their journey to Tazuna's home. After travelling for a while and noticing things that seemed out of place such as a snow white rabbit Kakashi and his team were back on alert. They did not have much time to contemplate it though because of all of sudden Kakashi barked out the order to get down immediately. As soon as they went down a giant blade whizzed right past where there heads were. As the blade hit the tree a figure descended onto it. As Team 7 and Tazuna returned to their feet the visitor began to speak: "Hatake Kakashi of Konoha, also known as Sharingan no Kakashi. I did not expect to meet you here." Kakashi also recognized their visitor. "Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist." The man named Zabuza simply smiled.

"Nice to know my name is known by a famous ninja such as yourself."

"I am flattered myself Zabuza."

"Well this does not concern you Kakashi. I am only here for the bridgebuilder."

"Unfortunately protecting the bridge builder is our job so you will have to go through us."

"And I will do just that...literally", snarled Zabuza with a sadistic grin.

"Who do you think you are? Like we will let you do what you want", yelled Naruto.

"Kid I have killed more people than you have fought. This will be no problem."

"What?", questioned Naruto incredulously. His two teammates were equally surprised as he was.

"It's true. When Zabuza was in Kiri there methods for determining who would become ninja were...brutal to say the least."

"You seem to know a lot Kakashi. What you say is true. The same people that I grew up with, trained with, sat in a classroom with...were all put in a free for all to the death battle in order to graduate...and I was the last man standing."

At this statement the shock on the faces of the three Genin was not enough to tell the tale of the chaos that was racking their brains at the moment. They did not have long to contemplate what they were just told though because Zabuza suddenly used his Hidden Mist jutsu to cover the entire area in a heavy mist. He then began to laugh his demonic laugh and list off the vital points that he could attack. Kakashi was a bit nervous about this, specifically for his Genin. 'He really is an expert at killing. He is wounding their ability to protect Tazuna or themselves by intimidating them. Basically...he is making them easy targets.' True to Kakashi's thoughts Sasuke began to tremble due to the head games and killing intent that Zabuza was dishing out. "That one is pathetic Kakashi. Look at the way he trembles", called out Zabuza from somewhere in the mist. "Sasuke! Calm down. I will not allow any of my comrades to die", said Kakashi with some finality and his genuine eye smile. "Are you sure about Kakashi", questioned Zabuza as he infiltrated the defense of the Genin protecting Tazuna. Kakashi's eyes widened as Zabuza began to swing his sword in a circular motion that would surely bisect his three Genin and Tazuna in one fell swoop. Luckily Kakashi did not have to act as Naruto bravely, though foolishly, yet smartly rushed Zabuza to grab his swinging arm to stop the blade. This led to Zabuza kicking Naruto away, giving Sasuke enough time to push Sakura and Tazuna out of the way and throw a kunai at Zabuza. Zabuza dodged and quickly batted Sasuke away with his forearm. This was more than enough time for Kakashi to be there and dispatch Zabuza with a kunai to the neck. To Kakashi's dismay Zabuza was reduced to a puddle of water. 'Mizu Bushin huh.' "It won't be that easy Kakashi", called out Zabuza in a patronizing tone, "Especially in my domain", called out Zabuza from right behind Kakashi. Within a couple of seconds Zabuza's blade bisected Kakashi who turned into water much to the pleasure of his team. 'He copied my technique that quickly?' "You're not the only one with a few tricks up their sleeve Zabuza", said Kakashi in response. With those words Zabuza disappeared into thick mist once again and Kakashi's three Genin jumped back into formation protecting Tazuna. Kakashi was already fed up with this stealth game Zabuza was playing. 'Ironic considering that I am a ninja', he thought. Kakashi decided to summon his dogs to sniff Zabuza out. Unfortunately he was forced to stop because Zabuza took that opportunity to make a dash toward the team. Kakashi intercepted him with a quick jab. Zabuza skid to a stop and leaned away from the punch and grabbed Kakashi's arm to attempt to flip him. Kakashi predicted this and let Zabuza flip him so that he could use that momentum to throw a kick at Zabuza's head. Zabuza blocked the kick with his foreman and sent a kick of his own at Kakashi's chest. By this time Kakashi was on the way to the ground so he used both of his hand plates to guard his chest. The force of the kick sent him skidding a few feet. Zabuza grabbed his sword and followed after Kakashi who had just popped back up from the ground with two kunai in hand. He used those two kunai to block the descending blade of Zabuza. 'He has a lot of strength in that lean, tall frame', Kakashi thought.

After recovering from his initial awe at the battle going on in front of them Tazuna decided that he was not content sitting here awaiting his fate. "I think we should try to get away from here while your sensei is fighting", he whispered to the team protecting him.

"Yea right old man, like we would abandon our sensei", retorted Naruto.

"He may have a point Naruto. We could be a hindrance for Kakashi sensei right now", said Sakura.

"If we do leave we should be close enough to help out if Kakashi is in trouble", mumbled Sasuke.

"Like I would let you do that!", called out Zabuza from behind them with a hand on his sword.

'A clone', thought Kakashi as he noticed what was going on, 'This isn't good'. In that second the Zabuza clone raised his sword and came down swiftly on Tazuna. "Nooooooo!", screamed Sakura. Her reaction did not last long though as Tazuna poofed into a cloud of smoke. 'What? A clone?', thought Zabuza as he blocked a stab from Kakashi. At that second Sasuke had sent a fireball through smoke to engulf the Zabuza Mizu Bushin. Zabuza was not a Jounin for show though as his clone easily dodged the attack and lunged out at Sasuke who threw a kunai that the clone dodged en route to raising his blade to vertically bisect Sasuke. 'Crap', thought Kakashi as he still had his hands full with the real Zabuza even though he was slowly starting to swing the battle toward his favor through the use of his Sharingan. As the blade descended Sakura's eyes widened as she realized that Sasuke was about to die. "Naruto! Do something!", she screamed out. Her scream seemed to work as the clone's blade stopped a few inches from Sasuke's head. "Don't worry Sakura-chan. I already am", said Naruto from behind the Zabuza clone with a kunai in it's back and a hand on the clone's descending hand. The clone burst into a puddle of water and they all took position around Tazuna again who had just crawled from behind Sasuke's legs. "It's a good thing that he did not notice that you were a transformed kunai because he saw through the fake Tazuna and was about to kill both Tazuna and I", said Sasuke. "So that kunai you threw was Naruto the whole time?", questioned Sakura. "Exactly", said Naruto and Sasuke in unison. They were drawn back to the battle of the Jounins by the sound of rushing water. Zabuza had attempted to swallow them all with the water vortex jutsu but Kakashi was already there Sharingan blazing copying the jutsu and executing it before Zabuza. To say Zabuza was surprised would be saying the least. He had no time to recover however and consequently he was swallowed up by the jutsu and slammed forcefully into a nearby tree. "It's over Zabuza", said Kakashi grimly as he sliced Zabuza's neck. To everyone's surprise Zabuza melted into a puddle of water. They all turned back to the water when they heard someone descend on the lake. They were surprised to see an unconscious Zabuza being held up by a mysterious ninja. Without a word they disappeared.

'Crap. That means they will be back again', thought Kakashi as he passed out.


	5. Chapter 5

Hatake Kakashi, being a Jounin of Konohagakure, due to his ninja prowess was rarely in a situation in which he did not have control or a certain degree of comfort. Of course that applies when he is able to be a controlling factor in the circumstances in which he finds himself in. Therefore, it was quite understandable that he woke up this morning with a quick start of panic because he was in an unfamiliar location and he had no idea how he got there. Fortunately for him he heard something that immediately calmed him down: Naruto. "Oi! Kakashi-sensei are you awake?" Kakashi gave his trademark eye smile as his students entered the room and casually affirmed Naruto's question.

"Where are we you guys?"

"I can answer that", said Tazuna as he entered the room with a beautiful young woman. "This is my home. We brought you here after you collapsed. The young lady standing next to me is my daughter Tsunami. Her son Inari is also around here somewhere."

"You have to try her cooking Kakashi-sensei. It's great dattebayo", chimed in Naruto enthusiastically. Tsunami, feeling very flattered, quietly said "Arigato."

"That sounds like a great idea Naruto but first I have something for us to do." The three Genin all looked at each other quizzically. "Training."

Fifteen minutes later Team 7 stood in the middle of a clearing just outside the town. The three Genin were anxiously awaiting the training from Kakashi-sensei.

"Is it a cool new jutsu?"

"Well not quite Naruto but it is a chakra control exercise."

"Chakra control? What's so great about that?"

"I am glad that you asked. Chakra control is important because it will help you be a better ninja when executing your techniques. I will give an example: the bunshin technique. When Sakura here does the bunshin technique, it is perfectly executed. When Sasuke does it he executes fairly well, but when you do it Naruto, it fails. The reason for this is because you all varying degrees of chakra control. Sakura has some of the best control I have ever seen. She uses the exact amount of chakra needed to create a bunshin. Sasuke uses just about the right amount of chakra as well to create the bunshin technique although he does overpower it. Naruto you have the worst chakra control of the team. This is apparent by the sheer amount of chakra you use in your bunshin technique." At these words Naruto grimaced while Sakura was blushing a bit at being praised. Sasuke stood by impassively. "Don't get too down on yourself though Naruto. The reason why controlling your chakra is so difficult for you is because your chakra capacity is humongous. It is already much bigger than mine." That statement piqued Sakura and Sasuke's interest.

"Naruto has more chakra than you Kakashi-sensei? Unbelievable", remarked Sakura. 'Just what is going on with Naruto?', thought Sasuke to himself.

"Yes he does. The point is that I will now teach you an exercise for controlling your chakra better: the tree walking exercise." Two simultaneous responses of "Huh?" and a third response of "Hn?" followed that statement. "How can climbing trees help control chakra sensei?", questioned Naruto. Now in a lot of cases when Naruto asks a follow-up question in an academic or learning environment, it leads to severe cases of face-palming and sweat-dropping, but in this case his two teammates agreed with him completely.

"Yes. Learning how to climb a tree the old-fashioned way is pointless in regard to developing better chakra control", affirmed Kakashi.

"Well why-"

"Because I am going to teach you how to climb trees with your feet only." At this statement Kakashi received three very confused stares. It was so cute that he considered allowing their faces to remain that way but he decided to tell them what he meant. After giving them the basic explanation of how to channel chakra through their feet and sustaining that to walk up a tree, Kakashi allowed his Genin to test it out. After ten minutes of embarrassment for his team...well two of them, he decided to point out the success of one of their teammates to encourage them. He let Naruto and Sasuke fall off the tree once more before he coughed to get their attention. After claiming the attention of Naruto and Sasuke, Kakashi pointed at Sakura, who just so happened to be sitting near the top of the tree. "Hey what's taking you guys so long", she playfully taunted. Two different responses came from her teammates: one of excitement and admiration and another of anger and envy. It goes without saying that Naruto's was the first one and Sasuke's was the second one. "Wow Sakura-chan! You are so cool!", exclaimed Naruto. Sasuke clenched his fists and stared at the ground. Sakura blushed at Naruto's comment but was saddened by Sasuke's seemingly lack of interest in her accomplishment. Naruto noticed this and rebuked Sasuke: "Hey jerk, be happy for Sakura-chan." Before Sasuke could respond, if he was going to, Kakashi interrupted by giving an explanation of Sakura's rapid completion of the exercise. "As I mentioned earlier Sakura has some of the best chakra control I have ever seen and a part of that is because she has a lower capacity of chakra. The less chakra you have, the easier it is to control. That still does not undermine her elite skills at controlling it though. Sakura, your potential is vast. Now, on the other hand Naruto and Sasuke will have much more trouble becoming great at controlling chakra...especially Naruto for reasons that I have already explained. At this Naruto entered a silent mini pout session that was still somewhat visible. That ended quickly though as Kakashi continued, "When he is able to control that chakra he will become a really formidable ninja. Of course we all know of the potential that Sasuke has. Well anyway, get back to work." After a few more tries of failing Naruto got a clever idea: ask Sakura for tips. He casually sauntered his way over to Sakura and asked her for help. Sakura, still feeling very flattered by Naruto's earlier comments and very eager to show the team that she had something valuable to offer as well, gave Naruto a few pointers that would help him out. Needless to say, five minutes later Naruto was making more progress in tree walking than Sasuke was. If Sasuke showed more emotion, the shock on his face would be more apparent. From the casual viewer's perspective it would seem as if he was just interested in his orange clad teammate's progress. His pride would not allow him to admit that anyone was better than him. That is probably the main reason why he decided not to ask Sakura for help in this exercise. That same pride almost prevented him from walking over to Naruto and asking for help. It was more like indirectly asking for help though as he just casually asked, "How are you doing that?" Naruto grinned. "Why would I help you idiot?" To Sasuke's credit he did not respond with anger or violence but it would seem that he had a somewhat embarrassed look on his face. Naruto grinned again and proceeded to give Sasuke the tips that Sakura gave him.

Night time in the land of the waves was very beautiful. Being able to look up into the starry sky over the ocean and hear the gentle crashing of the waves was very calming. It was a little known, great tourist spot. Some say that was another factor in Gato choosing to put his evil grip on the land. Money was his biggest motivator after all. Currently, two young ninja were experiencing the beauty of the land while lying on their backs heavily panting. Their other teammate and sensei had gone back to Tazuna's house a while ago. These two were still dedicated to mastering the tree walking exercise. They had made it to a little bit over half of the tree up until now. "Hey Naruto we should probably call it quits for tonight."

"What? You giving up already?", playfully asked Naruto.

"Not everyone has the absurd amount of stamina that you have idiot. And even if I did that still wouldn't prevent us from suffering chakra exhaustion."

"I guess you are right. This will give me more time to read."

"Read? Since when do you read?", asked Sasuke with an eyebrow raised.

"Don't say that like I am idiot or something!", shouted Naruto with a bit of irritation. "I mean I admit that I am not the smartest person in the world but I can still read."

"Hn. What are you reading?"

"I have a couple of books on tactics that I have been reading. It's actually pretty cool. If I wanted to use my powers for "evil" I could be the greatest prankster in the world."

"Only you would think of something like that", said Sasuke as he rose. "Wait, why did you start reading books on tactics?"

Naruto and Sasuke were happy to know that Tsunami was cooking dinner when they arrived. Just as Naruto was finishing a second bowl Kakashi signaled to get his team's attention. After the three eyes that he was searching for found his he began to speak. "As you know Zabuza was carried away by an unknown shinobi yesterday. This probably means that we-"

"Will see him again soon", chimed in Naruto.

"Correct Naruto. On account that Tazuna is his target, he will definitely be back. We must continue to protect him. I want you three to be better prepared to face them this time. Hence the training."

"What do you mean by "them" sensei?", asked Sakura.

"Well it is likely that Zabuza's accomplice will join the battle this time to ensure that he completes his objective. That is why I want you three to work hard on mastering the tree walking exercise so that I can hel-"

"It's pointless to fight back", said the voice of a male child. They all turned to look at the source of the voice, which was Inari. "You all will just die like everyone else who opposes Gato." Naruto, being who he was, wanted to encourage the kid, so he did it in the way he knows how: boisterously. Inari's response was not ideal. What Naruto heard was this: "You know nothing of pain, isolation, loneliness."

All that Inari said were the wrong words to say as they all quickly found out. Naruto's teammates were still staring at the door in which Naruto left out of as they were processing the reaction from their teammates. Tsunami and Tazuna had equally dumbfounded expressions on their face and Inari was shocked motionless for a moment before running off. Kakashi was the only one who knew of the pain that caused Naruto to react the way he did. He was the only one there who knew that Naruto grew up with nobody caring for him. Of course Sasuke and Sakura knew he was an orphan but they never paid much attention to the fact that he was shunned by the general population of Konoha. They were not aware that people turned away when Naruto came into view. They did not know that parents made their kids leave the park when Naruto showed up. They did not that the vast majority of Konoha either hated or feared Naruto because they thought he was the Kyuubi itself. So of course Naruto knew all about pain, isolation, and loneliness. He lived it everyday back in Konoha. With a heavy sigh Kakashi rose from his seat. 'It's better to let Naruto have a moment to himself. I will have a little talk with Inari.' With that, he let the occupants of the kitchen keep their silent company.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry about the late update. The chapter has been finished for a while though and I have been able to work on the next one so hopefully that means I can get the next one out to you quicker. Anyway, thanks for reading and please review.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own or have rights to Naruto. It is a work created by Masashi Kishimoto.**

A couple of days had passed since Naruto's outburst. As a result of this, some things changed. One such change being Inari's growing respect for Naruto after the talk he had with Kakashi. He realized that he was wrong about Naruto and took the next opportunity he could to apologize to him. Well, it was more like a stuttering, humble mess that Naruto understood as an apology. So Naruto, in a Naruto-esque way, simply patted Inari's head and told him that it was ok. After that they were fine. Another thing that happened as a result of Naruto's outburst was Sasuke and Sakura's increase in interest of Naruto's life. They had not said anything to him yet but Naruto could sense that they, well at least Sakura wanted to ask questions. While all of this was going on, Naruto and Sasuke had managed to complete the tree walking exercise. This led to the current situation of Naruto being unconscious due to near chakra exhaustion. While Naruto rested, Kakashi went over the guard duty assignments for the next day on the bridge.

"Alright, so you do you guys understand the plan?", asked Kakashi.

"Hai sensei!", said Sakura. A simple nod was received from Sasuke.

"Also, if Naruto is not awake by the time we get up in the morning then we will let him sleep in until he is able to join us. We should be fine protecting Tazuna."

"Sensei do you think we can adequately guard Tazuna now?", Sakura asked due to insecurities after their last run in with enemies. Although it was not a guarantee that they would meet opposition tomorrow, she was still wary.

"You guys should be fine. Besides, I will never let any of my comrades die." Even with Kakashi saying that he understood Sakura's fears. They had just encountered a very powerful foe not to long ago and not much had changed since then. Honestly, teaching them the tree walking exercise was more of a tactic to help them get rid of the fear they were experiencing. It was a placebo to boost their confidence. The truth was that he could not raise their abilities enough to truly compete with Zabuza in such a short time. Of course it would not be helpful to verbalize that at this moment even if they already knew that. At the least, he needed them confident in the abilities they already possessed. Sasuke and Sakura responded with nods. "Well anyway, let's prepare to rest."

"Wait a minute sensei, I have a question", blurted out Sakura before Kakashi got up to leave.

With an eyebrow raised Kakashi responded, "Yes?" Sasuke was also intrigued.

To be honest Sakura was a bit ashamed to ask this question but she still wanted to know. "Sensei, about Naruto's reaction to Inari's words the other night, why did Naruto respond the way he did?" At this question Sasuke also look expectedly at Kakashi.

"Well, you know Naruto is an orphan right?"

"Yes sensei but his reaction seems to suggest that there is more to it than that."

"You truly are bright Sakura. You are right. There is a bit more to it than he being an orphan. I believe it may be better for Naruto to tell it to you though." With that Kakashi got up and went to his room for the night. Sasuke and Sakura shared a look and they two went off to bed.

Naruto woke up very peacefully to warm sunrays caressing his face. The genteleness of the rays reminded him of the voice of the awfully girl-like boy that he met early in the day yesterday. 'What was his name again...hmm...Haku. He was nice. Speaking of nice, the sun looks nice when it is close to overhead...wait...overhead...that means close to noon...I'M LATE!' With comedic speed Naruto was up and ready to go. Within seconds he had eaten a very quick breakfast that was waiting for him on the table (courtesy of Tsunami), opened the door, and yelled goodbye to Tsunami and Inari on the way out. Tsunami and Inari had one collective thought to cross their minds as they both sweatdropped: 'It should be illegal to eat that fast.' After a few minutes of extremely fast tree jumping travel, Naruto noticed the environment around him had been mutilated by a sharp object. Some would be surprised to know that Naruto was wise enough to notice the abnormal situation and what the direction of the destruction implied. As he would respond to anyone who asked, he is not stupid, just not the most well educated. That is why he quickly realized through natural wisdom that Tsunami and Inari were in trouble. 'Aw crap.'

Just as Inari was about to meet his death via sharp, cold steel slicing through his body, an orange blur delivered quite a blow to the jaw of the thug who raised the blade. At the same time another orange blur delivered an even more devasting blow to the chin of the other thug who barely had anytime to react to his partner being knocked unconscious in an instant. The first orange blur then appeared in front of Inari and helped him to stand. "Sorry for being late Inari...but you know heroes make dramatic appearances", said Naruto with a smile on his face. In the time that Naruto picked up Inari, the clone that knocked out the other thug had helped Tsunami out as well and reunited the mother and child. "Alright you guys I got to get to the bridge." With that both Narutos burst into smoke. Both Inari and and Tsunami looked at each other with dumbfounded looks. It should not be a surprise though because the average person has never seen the shadow clone technique. Naruto, now on the bridge, had just received the memories of his shadow clones. 'Good. I made it in time', he thought with a smile as he ran toward the odd ice structure that Sasuke was currently trapped in.

Sasuke, who had gotten himself trapped in the ice mirrors of Haku, noticed Naruto on the outside of the structure. 'Never have I been happier to see this idiot. Maybe we can find a way to defeat the jutsu.'

"Hey Sasuke, I am here to help."

"Wha- What are you doing in here idiot?"

"It's unfortunate that you stepped into this dome. Now you both will die", said the masked figure who had taken Zabuza away that day.

If Naruto was afraid he definitely did not show it. In fact, he was smirking. At this Sasuke grew irate. "Idiot! Do you understand that we both are trapped right now? This guy's jutsu is impossible to escape from." Naruto continued smirking as he pulled out a smoke bomb. The masked ninja responded to this action, "Obscuring my vision does not help you to escape." As he said this the masked ninja began throwing a barrage of senbon at the group. He was surprised when he did not hear grunts of pain from the cloudy area but instead he heard an explosion. When the smoke cleared, his eyes widened. The two young ninja were gone. Why? The area beneath his ice dome was gone.

"Looking for us", called out the blonde charging directly at Haku. Haku remained silent as he threw a few senbon at the blonde. They met their target but the target dispersed into smoke. 'Bunshin huh?' "It seems that you are much more clever than I assumed young ninja. Who would have thought that you would destroy the bridge beneath you to escape my jutsu. Quite an ingenious use of explosive tags if I must say so myself, although you are only delaying the inevitable."

"Get real! As if we will lose to you."

"I think I can agree with you this time Naruto", chimed in Sasuke.

"Well, let's see who will come out of this battle alive then", said Haku gently as he sped toward the two Genin.

To say Kakashi was relieved would be an understatement. For a second there he was worried that Naruto had gotten himself caught in the jutsu but was pleasantly surprised to see that both Naruto and Sasuke had escaped. Just then a blade was descending on Kakashi from above intending on bisecting him vertically. Kakashi was not a Jounin for nothing though as he quickly planted his left foot and pivoted away from the blade while redirecting it with his hand plates.

"You should never take your eyes off the battle Copy Ninja", taunted Zabuza, "Although I too am amazed at the fact that they were able to get out of the jutsu. This looks like it will become much more interesting."

"Let's say we finish this Zabuza?" His only response was a smirk that he couldn't see because of the mist. Kakashi definitely felt the sinister intent though.

Although they had escaped the the ice dome, Sasuke and Naruto were not faring much better against the masked nin. They both had quite a few scratches and torn bits of clothing. As the mask ninja charged toward them again Naruto gave Sasuke a nod. Sasuke gave no indication that he saw Naruto but he began to withdraw a couple things from his pouch. Right as Haku reached them, Naruto unleashed his signature jutsu, filling their immediate area with about 15 shadow clones. At the same time Sasuke had dropped a smoke bomb. It was still no issue for Haku to disperse the various clones. Within seconds the all of the clones were defeated. What remain was Sasuke and Naruto retreating to the hole on the bridge from the earlier explosion. Haku descended on them in a flash. He threw some senbon at them but to his surprise they casually fell into the opening on the bridge as the senbon pierced them. They dispersed. 'Bunshin again.' Haku approached the hole cautiously ready to attack, but was caught off guard by the grinning faces of Naruto and Sasuke as they waved from the surface of the water. The space beneath Haku's feet began to glow and just as he was jumping away an explosion blew him away. At that moment Naruto and Sasuke came back to the bridge. They arrived just in time to see the damage done to Haku. He had escaped harm for the most part except for a few singes here and there, but the most noticeable thing was that the mask was broken and sliding off his face. As the mask slid completely off Naruto's smirk transformed into a look of shock. This did not go unnoticed by Sasuke. "Oi Naruto, what's going on?"

"It-It can't be. Haku..it was you?", asked a bewildered Naruto.

"Hai Naruto-kun. Remember what I told you in the forest. Well Zabuza-sama is that precious person to me. I hope you understand."

"But Haku, we do not have to fight." Just as Haku was about to respond a struggling Zabuza shouted, "Haku hurry up and finish things over there!"

"It would seem that Zabuza-sama needs me." With that, Haku's face transformed into the "weapon" that he was for Zabuza. With a brutality that was not shown before, Haku began to assault the two young ninjas. Within the blink of an eye, he was upon them with a swift leg sweep that caught Naruto and just barely missed Sasuke. With the flick of his wrists, he sent a couple of senbon through both of Naruto's hands and a few into Sasuke's body, effectively pinning Naruto down and slowing Sasuke down. Before Sasuke had a chance to react, Haku blazed through some hand seals and softly called out "Ice Style: Spears of the Tundra." Before his very eyes, Sasuke saw considerably sized spears of ice form out of the moisture in the atmosphere and fly straight toward him. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto all knew that he would not be able to dodge in time. Time seemed to slow down as Sakura screamed out, "Noo!", Naruto looked on terrified as he pried his hands from the bridge surface, and Sasuke stared down the ice spear a couple of feet from him. Suddenly Sasuke realized that things actually seemed as if they slowed down. To everyone else it looked as if Sasuke had moved imperceptively fast as he dodged the spears that seemed as if it was on a guaranteed collision course with him. When he lifted his head both Naruto and Haku noticed that Sasuke's eyes had changed to a complete red color with three tomoe in each eye. This bought Naruto enough time to gather himself and stand near Sasuke. For a second they all stared at each other until Haku unleashed another barrage of ice spears.

Zabuza thought that he had the upperhand in this fight up until now. The reason being that he was now held down by Kakashi's nin dogs. Who would have thought that Kakashi would let himself get cut intentionally in order for his dogs to sniff me out. His eyes suddenly widened as Kakashi began to gather chakra for his signature jutsu as he called it.

"Well, this is it Zabuza", calmly stated Kakashi as he prepared to take off to impale him through the heart. Haku sensed Zabuza was in trouble and dashed off to save him. Naruto and Sasuke, who looked worse for wear due to the various ice spears and senbons that tormented them, tried to follow but Haku was much to fast. Kakashi was already within a foot of Zabuza when Haku suddenly appeared in front of him, but it was too late to stop Raikiri now. The lightening blade met flesh as Haku was impaled through the upper right breast. Haku gave out a gasp of pain as Zabuza grinned mischievously behind him. Realizing that Haku was restraining Kakashi's arm, Zabuza immediately raised his sword, the Kubikiribocho, to cut both Haku and Kakashi in half. "Excellent job my weapon!", he screamed maniacally. Zabuza never had a chance to start his descent with the sword as a red blur smashed into his side, flinging him toward the edge of the bridge where he slammed violently into the rail. This red blur was accompanied by the most malicious presence one could ever experience. Unlike everyone else there Kakashi knew the source of this presence and if he could not do anything about it soon, things could get back. The red blur, now noticeably seen as Naruto, settled into the spot where Zabuza was and shouted, "How dare you think about defiling the body of the one who so easily devoted their life to you! I'll kill you where you lay!"

"Naruto-kun", called out a weak voice from the direction of Kakashi. Immediately Naruto lost the red cloak of chakra that surrounded him when he heard that voice. He turned back to see Haku being placed on the ground by Kakashi. "Ha-Haku? How are you still alive?", questioned Naruto.

"It seems that he was fortunate. The speed in which he recklessly flew in to save Zabuza caused him to be pierced in the right side of his chest instead of the left. He is lucky to be alive but he will not last for long without medical treatment."

"Do not worry. Both he and Zabuza will be dead soon anyway. Along with all of you and the bridgebuilder as well", called out a short man with glasses from the far end of the bridge.


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm back everybody. I had issues with laptop for a while and I had become a bit busy. I might be able to update regularly now though. I really hope you continue to enjoy the story.**

 **As usual I will state that I do not own any part of the Naruto series. All rights are to Kishimoto Masashi-san.**

The short man was flanked on both sides by a horde of men with various weapons. It provided quite an intimidating display to say the least. Here was a small group of ninja, low on chakra, and a bridge builder facing off against a band of about 40 to 50 fresh men with weapons. Then again, they were not shinobi in words only. "It seems we are no longer enemies Kakashi", said Zabuza as he was standing up clutching his ribs.

"I would have to agree Zabuza. We have a mutual enemy."

"Don't act tough before your death. Nothing will stop you ninjas from dying today. That means you as well Tazuna. I will make sure you "enjoy" yourself before you die", growled out Gato. Tazuna gulped.

"Don't worry old man Tazuna, these guys do not stand a chance!", exclaimed Naruto as he performed his signature Kage Bunshin no jutsu. Immediately 30 copies of the blond appeared on the bridge. Right after Kakashi stood and created about 10 clones. If this sight was not menacing enough, Zabuza and Sasuke quickly flanked Naruto and Kakashi with their weapons raised. Gato and his men began to get a bit nervous at this sight but it became outright fear when Zabuza enacted his Hidden Mist jutsu while slowly stalked toward them with his Kubikiribocho casually raised behind his back. "What are you idiots waiting for? Get them!", screamed Gato. A couple of men complied by charging Zabuza, but as soon as they entered the mist the only sound heard was torn flesh, blood spilling, and the screams of the men. At this sound the group turned around to leave but they turned around to multiple small explosions destroying their ships and a group of about 10 blondes waiting for them. In short, Gato and his men were made quick work of. Within five minutes, Zabuza killed 10 of them while Naruto and Kakashi's clones beat them to a pulp and tied them all up. As Inari and the townspeople arrived to help clean-up the mess, Zabuza picked up Haku and hurriedly dashed off.

"Shouldn't we pursue them?", questioned Sasuke.

"It would be pointless now. Our mission is completed", simply stated Kakashi. At this Sakura let out a sigh of relief. As Zabuza reached the clearing across the body of water, Naruto leapt to the end of the bridge and called out. "Hey Zabuza, Haku, let's meet under friendlier circumstances next time!" Zabuza simply smirked and dashed through the tree-line.

The defeat of Gato had the people of the wave in a celebrating frenzy. He had been one of the fortunate ones who escaped the blade of Zabuza, but he did not escape the justice of the people that he oppressed for so long. Their judgment on him was an unique one for the circumstances. Instead of putting him to death, they put him and his men to work. Tazuna definitely found the extra workers helpful. He had Gato and the men repair the bridge and help finish construction of the bridge as well. After completing that, they would be used in the construction and repairs of the towns all over the Wave Country. To put the icing on the cake, the land of Waves also received all of Gato's assets. This provided a much needed boost to the economy. It would be a while before the land of the Waves would flourish again but the removal of Gato was a monumental step in the right direction.

A week after the battle on the bridge, team 7 was packed and prepared to leave. They rested the first couple of days after the fight and they spent the past few days helping to establish order with the people and repair some of the damage done by Gato to the people and the land. It was during this time that Sakura decided to question Naruto about his outburst with Inari.

"Oi Naruto, can I ask you something?", asked Sakura as she was putting the finishing touches on a small garden they were helping to build in the town square. They hoped that placing small signs of hope like these would be inspirational to the people as they continue their rebuilding effort.

"Sure Sakura-chan! What's up?", said Naruto expectantly.

"Why did you respond to Inari so vehemently that day?"

"Ve- what?"

"Basically, why were you so intense? Passionate? Angry?", she questioned. At this, Sasuke perked up to listen as well.

With a forced grin Naruto quickly responded, "I don't know, I guess it's just one of those things."

"It seemed like so much more", interrogated Sakura.

"It's nothing alright", said Naruto softly.

"It's because you were an orphan right?", asked Sakura coyly. At this Naruto froze and seemed to get a faraway look into his eyes. After a few seconds he regained his composure and stated plainly that it's alright before he excused himself from the gardening. 'Well, it's a start', thought Sakura to herself. 'I'll have to ask him again at another time.' Sasuke simply returned to gardening.

As they stopped in front of the newly built bridge that connected the land of Waves and the land of Fire, team 7 and Tazuna's family faced each other for one last time before departure. "Thanks once again for helping us you guys!", said Tsunami earnestly.

"Right. We are especially grateful because you did this when you had no obligation to do so. For that we are eternally grateful", said Tazuna.

"Maa, it was our pleasure. Besides, Naruto wouldn't have let us abandon you", said Kakashi. At this statement his three students all smiled. Then Naruto noticed Inari's trembling form and addressed him. "It's ok to cry Inari", said Naruto with comically teary eyes.

"I'm not going to cry Naruto-ni", retorted Inari with equally comical teary eyes.

"Well goodbye then Inari", said Naruto as he turned away.

"See you later", said Inari as he turned away at almost the exact same time. Needless to say that they both bawled. After all they had created a brotherly bond since their incident and it was tough to say bye to someone who you bonded with. With that team 7 began crossing the bridge. As they were leaving Tsunami looked up and noticed something. "Hey Otou-san, what should we call the bridge?" At this question Tazuna seemed thoughtful for a moment before smiling. "How about we name it after the one who influenced so much change in this people? Naruto", said Tazuna. "The Great Naruto Bridge."

"That sounds great Otou-san. An impressive bridge for an impressive individual", said Tsunami with a smile.

"Right! That's my ni-san", exclaimed Inari with an even bigger smile.

'Until this point the trip back has been peaceful', moaned Kakashi. All three of the Jounin's students were very quiet as they were absorbed in their own thoughts. Naruto was busy admiring his skills during the battle on the bridge. Sasuke was being his normal self, while Sakura was contemplating asking Naruto about his past again. She decided against it. That peace would have remained if Naruto had not asked Sasuke to spar at some point when they returned to the village. In turn there was a cocky response from Sasuke and that did not sit well with Naruto to say the least. Bickering ensued and of course Sakura joined in. After 15 minutes, Kakashi was able to divert the conversation elsewhere. The rest of their journey was made in peace.


End file.
